Damp cold and lost

On Saturday I met a group of friends by the north stage area. We met around the same time as "Nine Inch Nails" came on stage as Mud people. NIN could have been wandering among the crowd, unrecognized. The only thing you can see in a Mud person is their eyes, nothing else is distinguishable."Metallica" came on after them and it was raining hard by this time. I was soaked and my hair was hanging in long wet columns. Many people near the front had left their mosh pit positions, because of the hard rainfall.

One particular friend and I moved down near the mosh pit for "Aerosmith". Steven Tyler came out with a tall hat on, like you would see on the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland. He finished up our Saturday evenings music.

All of us left for one of the parking lots to take a drive. The driver was stoned on acid and his driving was terrible. At times I thought my life was coming to an end. We made it to a Restaurant to have some breakfast at 4:00 AM. I arrived back safely in one of the parking lots but everything had changed. I was in a community of tents, displays, vendors, but none of it was the same. After being up all night, I was confused! It was too early for the music to guide me, one way or the other. I came to a path through the woods, which didn't look familiar. I went over a bridge, I had never seen before. There was some tents located by a stream, and I came out on the opposite side of the North stage. I had no idea that the camping was spread out that far.

It was now about 10:00 AM, I turned around to head back into this new community. There was a huge mass of people standing in line with their belonging, waiting to leave on buses. Lines and lines of people who just didn't have the guts to be rained on anymore.

Yes, it was a depressing morning. It was still raining and it was so difficult getting from one place to another with mud stuck on your feet. At times it seemed impossible to pick up my boot to take one more step. Many people didn't have good enough foot gear for the mud. I was fortunate that I had boots with me. Some people only had tennis shoes, which slid in the mud. Others were trying to walk without shoes at all, but there were too many rocks, and stubs from small trees.

I found an area just where people were sitting and talking about how depressing the rain had become. I sat there among that group. One person had come up with the idea to tie a milk carton to a rope and help people get up the hill. I was feeling down with the rest of them. Then a friend came along and cheered me up. I moved on among the land of the living and the world of music.

I traveled back to the other side, where my tent was. It was worthless because it had a hole in it. I left it behind and only took the wet sleeping bag and my clothes. I was exhausted. I ended up laying my weary head on the sleeping bag in some friendly souls tent. There was such a sense of sharing. You would be surprised how good a real bed, a dry pillow and blanket would have felt.

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